Was Mel Gibson Being Extorted?
If you listen to the news at all, then you have undoubtedly heard the profanity filled rants that allegedly came from Mel Gibson toward Oksana Grigorieva, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter. What you may not have heard are the rumors that have begun to swirl around that Grigorieva may have tried to extort Gibson with these tapes.
According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s detectives are investigating just that.
Steve Whitmore, the spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, refused to elaborate any more into the rumors than that, stating only that “detectives will follow the investigation wherever it leads.”
Grigorieva, a 40 year old Russian singer, has used her spokesman to deny any of the allegations. Stephen Jaffe, Grigorieva’s spokesperson, was quoted saying that “there is no credible evidence whatsoever of extortion by [Grigorieva], and she stands steadfastly by that statement.”
The timing of the tapes’ release does raise an eyebrow due to the fact that the two are currently in the middle of a custody dispute over their eight month old daughter. The records in that case are sealed.
The effects of these tapes on Gibson will likely be devastating. According to The New York Times, Gibson has already started losing foreign film buyers.
Gibson actually hasn’t acted in a Hollywood film since Signs in 2002, but has been successful in getting millions of dollars in foreign investments to make movies for foreign theater chains.
Gibson has been hit hard in the European and Middle Eastern press. James Ulmer, who has ranked actors’ values and has a special knowledge of foreign markets, was quoted as saying he was “surprised at how much of an emotional impact this has had on the Europeans.”
Between this incident and his anti-Semitic rant following a DUI arrest in 2006, Gibson may just be seen as too difficult a client and too risky an investment.
It might be a surprise that Gibson’s films have had such an important base in foreign theaters. The 1995 blockbuster Braveheart earned nearly two thirds of its $210 million from foreign box offices. That works out to approximately $134.4 million.
These tapes, whether or not they were ever used in an attempt to extort Gibson, are probably going to take a good chunk out of his foreign and domestic following. For now, we have to wait to see what Gibson says when he finally addresses the media about this issue. Until Gibson talks, the rumors about extortion, tape manipulation, and even the certainty that it is his voice, will be speculated on. It will be interesting to watch and see how Gibson will handle this situation.
